The present invention relates to a cleaning agent container for an integrated cleaning system of a device for dispensing liquid food items, particularly milk products.
When dispensing liquid food items, for example in the form of hot or cold beverages, frequently processing of the liquid food item occurs in the dispensing device, for example by way of heating, cooling, mixing of different food ingredients, frothing, or the like. The components inside the beverage dispensing device, which come into contact with the liquid food item, must here be cleaned in regular intervals for hygienic reasons. This occurs generally by a cleaning system, which rinses the respective components and pipelines with a rinsing solution. Depending on the type of food item, here specific cleaning agents must be used, by which residue of food items can be removed.
For practical reasons, the cleaning agent is frequently provided in a concentrated form, from which inside the rinsing system the rinsing solution is produced upon being mixed with water. For this purpose, the cleaning system may particularly comprise a cleaning agent pump, which is provided to convey the cleaning agent from a cleaning agent container into a mixing chamber, in which the cleaning solution is then mixed.
A cleaning module for machines for the production of liquid food items, particularly for coffee makers, is described in DE 10 2008 903 733. The cleaning module comprises at least one cleaning agent container, a dosing pump for conveying the cleaning agent, and a mixing container for mixing a rinsing solution comprising water supplied thereto and cleaning agent. In order to execute a cleaning process the cleaning module is connected to the coffee maker, instead of the food reservoir.
From DE 10 2014 215 689, not published earlier, a beverage dispensing device is known with a cleaning system, in which a cleaning agent container and a corresponding cleaning agent pump are provided, integrated in the beverage dispensing device. When a food container is replaced by a cleaning agent—mixing container the beverage dispensing device detects this fact automatically and a cleaning process can be started.
In such a beverage dispensing device with an integrated cleaning system the simple and secure handling of the cleaning agent is of particular importance. On the one hand, the filling or replacement of the cleaning agent must be possible in a simple and quick fashion, even by an untrained operator, and on the other hand it must be ensured that the interior of the beverage dispensing device is not soiled by spilled cleaning agent. In particular it must be excluded that any cleaning agent can come into contact with the liquid food item.